


I know that I love you (because you're my everything)

by MyNeighborTellsMeStories



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Homophobic Language, M/M, Not overly fluffy, but not really, fluff in general?, i think, mostly if not all fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 23:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7911538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyNeighborTellsMeStories/pseuds/MyNeighborTellsMeStories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Joshua feels murderous- OR, Jeonghan's upset and Joshua feels protective</p>
            </blockquote>





	I know that I love you (because you're my everything)

Joshua knows Jeonghan like the back of his hand. While their relationship began roughly in their freshman year of highschool (which was another story for another time), they had bonded over sleepless nights in the library, which, strangely enough, had become a long lasting tradition the two of them had kept till now (wherein they constantly cry over excessive homework, being in their second year of a prestigious university). 

So naturally, when Jeonghan subtly flinched away from Joshua’s touch, even if it was the smallest of movements, Joshua caught on immediately. 

“Jeonghan? “ He asked while removing his hand from his boyfriend’s thigh. It was 2 a.m. and the two of them were seated in the back of the library, their usual spot, mostly covered by the towering bookshelves. 

Jeonghan looked up from his laptop, a small sigh escaping from his lips as he gently smiled back at him. “I’m just tired,” he replied to Joshua’s questioning look. 

Like he said, Joshua knows Jeonghan like the back of his hand, and Jeonghan never (and by never he meant it in a will-not-happen-unless-pigs-fly sort of way) flinched away from Joshua’s touch. In fact, most of the time, Jeonghan was usually the one who initiated it, a reoccurring trend ever since their first hookup stowed away in an empty aisle of his high school library. 

Joshua answered with a doubtful stare. “Uh-huh. And I guess you weren’t too tired a week ago when we had our essay due to Prof. Park.” Joshua ignored the warmth in his face as he thought about what happened, flashbacks of the incident (he had doused himself in holy water that day) played in a loop in his head. 

Jeonghan’s lip twitched up in a half smile, which looked more like a smirk than anything, for a split second before drooping into a frown that was ever present on his pretty face for a few days now (four days to be exact, Joshua knows because he kept count). 

“Jeonghan,” Joshua repeated, this time, filling the name with emotion as it rolled off his tongue. “I’m worried about you, you haven’t been yourself for the past few days. I mean, you didn’t even finish your string cheese, and you love that stuff!” 

“I know, I know,” Jeonghan smiled weakly. Joshua could easily tell it’s a fake one, but for the sake of the situation, he let it slide. “I’m just stressed. I have a paper due for Professor Jung on Friday, and you know how he is.” 

Joshua knew Professor Jung could be a pain in the ass most of the time, a little too well- much to his dismay, but he also knew how Jeonghan never really complained about the workload. At least, not this often. 

“Hmmm,” Joshua hummed a reply. “Whatever’s going on, you know you can tell me, right?” He grasped Jeonghan’s hand tightly in his, and gave it a reassuring squeeze, hoping that that little gesture would be enough to convey how much he loved him. 

Jeonghan smiled- the first real smile in what seemed like forever, “I know.” 

;;..~-~ 

Joshua knew Jeonghan took those words to heart when he barged into their shared bedroom in tears. 

“Jeonghan?” he said, urgency clear in his voice, as he crossed the room in three quick strides and embraced his boyfriend in a tight hug. Jeonghan hugged back, and buried his head into the crook of his neck. 

After a few beats of comforting silence, Joshua unwillingly released himself of the hold, before immediately grasping Jeonghan’s hand and leading him towards the bed. He sank comfortably on the bed and pat the spot next to him, signaling Jeonghan to do the same. 

“What happened?” Joshua asked as he raised up his hand to brush away the tears and some stray hairs. 

Jeonghan leaned into his hand and shook his head. “It’s stupid, really.” 

But Joshua knows it’s not because Jeonghan never cries (and by never, he means it in a not-unless-something-really-really-bad-happened sort of way). 

Joshua didn’t say anything to reply, and instead rubbed soothing circles on the back until Jeonghan was ready to talk. 

;;..~-~ 

When Joshua wakes up, it’s the middle of the night, and the room is dimly illuminated by the lamp on the nightstand. A body is tucked under his chin, into his chest, and lying under his arm, and Joshua knows it’s Jeonghan because Jeonghan’s body molds perfectly into his own, and it’s skin against skin, and Joshua could tell Jeonghan’s hand apart from a pool of a thousand, and possibly more. 

After Jeonghan had came home in tears, the two of them ended up on the bed. For hours, Jeonghan had refused to talk about what happened, and they ended up cuddling in bed until they fell asleep, Joshua to the sweet scent of Jeonghan’s shampoo, and Jeonghan to the beating of Joshua’s heart. 

Jeonghan shifted and his hair tickled Joshua’s chin. “Jeonghan, are you awake?” Joshua whispered silently. 

A grunt came in reply. 

“Are you ready to talk now?” Joshua asked as Jeonghan wormed his way from out of Joshua’s embrace to look at him. 

Jeonghan rubbed his eyes and sighed. “It’s really not that bad. I don’t know why I reacted so badly.” After a short sigh, he continued, “So you know how we’re openly gay, right?” 

Joshua nodded and ran his hand through Jeonghan’s hair, silently encouraging him to continue, though he had a hunch at where this was going. The two of them had been dating for a while, and while his high school was relatively accepting about their queerness, university was much bigger, and surprisingly, which much more narrow-minded people. 

“So people have said some things…” Jeonghan said. And that’s when Joshua’s worries multiplies by a hundred because Jeonghan isn’t the type of person to get offended easily. He’s a pretty chill guy, and that’s one of the reasons why Joshua is always so comfortable around him. Most of the time, Jeonghan brushes an insult with a smile, or at worse, retorts with a passive-aggressive insult of his own. 

“They called me the stereotypical curses for lgbtq people like us, yanno, like the F-A-G, “ Jeonghan spells the word out because like Joshua, they don’t really agree to using derogatory terms, even if not in context. “At first, I brushed it off, because like who cares, y’know? But they crossed the line when they said our relationship wasn’t ‘real’.” 

Joshua sat up in bed as soon as he heard this. “What?!” In ways more than one, Joshua knows that Jeonghan is plenty more offended after being accused of having a not ‘real’ relationship (whatever the hell that means), because unlike empty curses, saying so is like someone saying that an apple is not real because they prefer oranges. But more so, it’s because the term ‘real,’ - especially in terms of love, was practically a joke in Jeonghan’s life, until Joshua, at least he hopes, appeared. 

It’s not Joshua’s story to tell, but Jeonghan’s parents divorced as a child. His dad had custody and since 9? 10? Years old Jeonghan had watched his father remarry 5 times, only to come home with a new one night stand every night. 

Joshua could understand why Jeonghan would come home crying, “they,” whoever “they” was, had hit a soft spot, unintentionally or intentionally, it didn’t matter. But what did matter was that this so- called “they,” deserved a punch to the face, or, if Joshua had his way, a knife to the gut. 

His blood boiled as he watched Jeonghan rise next to him. “Shua?” he asked. “It’s okay, I’m over it now.” 

Joshua grabbed Jeonghan’s face gently with his hands and tugged him closer. Their faces just inches apart. “Tell them to fuck off, because we’re as real as it gets.” Joshua leaned in for a kiss, and was rewarded with the knowledge that he said the perfect thing as Jeonghan smashed his lips against his own. 

When they separated, Joshua doesn’t bother to remove his hands as he whispered, “I love you.” 

;;..~-~ 

Joshua was feeling pretty murderous as he sits on the edge of the bed, Jeonghan sleeping peacefully behind him. After much coaxing, Joshua managed to get the names from Jeonghan, who was reluctant to reveal such information. 

“You’re going to murder him, “ he had said. 

“What? Me? Your church oppa would never do such a thing.” 

And here he was, frantically texting away on his phone, letting every single one of their closest friends, or their “squad”- as Soonyoung likes to call it, know what happened. 

Seungcheol was the first to reply on their group chat (which included everyone besides Jeonghan, of course), but it was only a bunch of exclamation points and angry- face emojis. Jihoon replied next with a terse message: “Let me grab my guitar.” 

And just like that, Joshua was going to make sure that no one would ever hurt Jeonghan again. 

;;..~-~ 

A week later, the two of them are in the library again. Instead of working on a paper, Jeonghan is dutifully sketching a picture of a cat in his sketchbook while Joshua copies down important quotes from Othello. 

Jeonghan laughs as he mentions that cat shares a remarkable resemblance to Joshua, and Joshua smiles and he places his hand on Jeonghan’s thigh. 

This time, Jeonghan does not flinch away, and instead leans his head against Joshua’s shoulder. And Joshua knows that everything’s okay because Jeonghan smiles, and his eyes crinkle around the edges in a strangely youthful way, and his eyes light up and he looks absolutely beautiful. 

Fears of having anything short of a love-filled relationship are eradicated from Jeonghan’s mind because Jeonghan-and-Joshua can only ever be as ‘real’ as fuck. 

And Joshua knows it like the back of his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed!


End file.
